IEEE 802.16's Session #79 meeting was held on 16-19 January 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This Working Group (WG) interim session was co-located with the IEEE 802 Wireless Interim. This report was written by 802.16 chair Roger Marks.

HetNet Study Group

The new IEEE 802.16 WG Study Group on the WirelessMAN Radio Interface in Heterogeneous Networks (HetNet Study Group) met for the first time. Input contributions were received from individuals affiliated with Consensii LLC, ETRI, Nokia Siemens Networks, and WiMAX Forum. Based on the inputs and discussions, the Study Group proceeded in two directions:

Machine-to-Machine Task Group

At Session #79, the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Task Group resolved comments received during the first recirculations of the IEEE Sponsor Ballots regarding drafts P802.16p and P802.16.1b. In each case, a second recirculation will be requested and, if successful, the draft will be submitted to RevCom. The TG issued a closing report.

Comments

What's the future of WiMAX now that LTE is "4G"

With WiMAX device makers like HTC and Samsung now switching to LTE smart phones, what's left of the WiMAX ecosystem? Sprint and Yota have opted for LTE rather than WiMAX 2.0.

So what's the future of WiMAX for the next few years? M2M and Smart Grid outdoor wireless networks are certainly possible, but who is investing in those? Will mesh WiFi make a comeback now that WiMAX is on the decline?